Peer roamers in the Learning Commons; bringing service to the students

Susan Beatty, University of Calgary7th annual Canadian Learning Commons ConferenceBishops UniversityJune 10, 2014 Peer Roamers in the Learning Commons; Bringing Service to the Students

1OutlineBackgroundProject outlineTwo years of experienceOperationsLessons learnedFuture plans

2BackgrounderTaylor Family Digital Library change is afootStudents have been part of staffing Collaboration with Student Success CentreAware of similar services EG. AustraliaOpportunity through SU grant 3RationaleObservation of student behaviorsApproach to serviceInformation search behaviorsResponse to peersVision : Students helping studentsGoal: integrated learning experience.

4Learning Commons Student Staff

5Peer Roamers

What: Support with basic library research, citation skills, study skillsWhen: Sunday Thursday late afternoon to 8 pmHow: face to face encountersWhere: At main desk and roam the building, singly or in pairs.

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7Budget Grant: $41,300$12,000 in second yearChange in staffing model year one to year twoAdditional costs: Tshirts iPads Marketing costs ( posters and portable banner) Moveable laptop desks

Staff costs for supervision, not part of grant, @ 10 hours per week. (estimated average)8Opportunity: VolunteersCo-curricular or non-credit service-learning programOpportunities for students to learn and be involved on campus Develop leadership and other skillsGain credit through CCR: official document that recognizes students out of classroom experiences. Useful for presenting a holistic view of students experience to future employersMain benefit is to student, gains soft skills and confidence 9

Peer Roamers Posting in Co-Curricular directory10First year Second yearAll were paidNew SupervisorTraining: initial, email and ongoing face to face, one round up meetingNo drop-off of studentsScheduling time Big learning curveTime with students every day2 paid team leads, 10 volunteersNew SupervisorTraining: initial, training sheets, and through emailThree drop-off end of fall termScheduling timeTime with students every dayStill learning11

12Operational highlightsSupervisionHiringTrainingScheduling Communication Roaming Marketing Evaluation

13Collaboration benefitsTwo heads are better than oneCCR was already in place in SSC, easier to initiate volunteer postingAble to share training and focus on learning needs of students Shared co-ordination , through shift report responses

14Collaboration considerationsHow to ensure shared participation and shared benefitCan be problematic if not a priority for either partnerSoft money, what else could the money be spent onShared decision-making and problem solvingJoint involvement in development Always an ongoing discussionRecognition for both parties needs to be maintained15Best toolsShift reportsBlackboard site iPads Banner and t-shirts: Color brandingEnthusiastic students, team leaders who lead Whiteboard for interactions who knew??Handouts make it real, e.g. citations, obvious what they can help with

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Tools of the trade17

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22Statistics23Statistics24Student questionsDirectional: where do I go to find out how to choose courses for my second year?Citation:For an intext-citation using APA how do I separate multiple sourcesReference:Can you help me find Hamlet?Circulation:How do I sign out a book, Where is this book?

25Peer roamer commentsLots of questions! Everything to do with signing out / returning books, wifi, student cards, writing centre, SSC (whether there's a RefWorks workshop soon), what a peer roamer is, and is this desk free to use when roamers aren't on duty. One student wanted to know when the semester ends.

It was a no mans land in here today. It was all only the hardest of the hardcore and even they were sleeping or goofing off :).Third floor was NUTS! And SO loud! Everywhere else was full but relatively calm.

26Learning and trainingOverall I thought this was a great activity because I learned some new things, such as you don't need doi in MLA and how the ebrary works, and since the library was not busy it was something productive to do. (comment on learning activity assignment)H had a big moment! After a patron came up to ask about a gallery event and something didn't seem right, she went up to the patron all on her own to clarify the event details. It turned out that the patron came on the wrong night! Big applause for H because this was a big step from how shy she was when she first came to the Peer Roamers :)

27RelationshipsCan I tell you about my day? My brain hurts.Being a roamer was a really great wonderful experience( I still haven't decided if I can come back, though I really want to). I got to meet wonderful people and we had two really wonderful leaders, Yayyyy my shift report is longer than Grant's :) :)I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your incredible amount of support and understanding. Your patience made this semester enjoyableA senior asked me about the photoshop workshop on Monday. I'm impressed. People continue to learn. I want to be like him too.

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29Problematic but working on itScheduling and TrainingRegular meetings with RoamersStudent awareness and uptake, requires stability, but growing Roaming vs desk encountersTwitter followersSupervisors time commitmentEmbedded in library and SSC service program, need to have proof of conceptIntegration within staff and services at all levels.

. 30Plans for 2014-2015Continue with model of 2 Team Leaders and volunteer Peer RoamersIncrease number of Peer Roamer volunteers Change in student staffing complement could lead to more requests of Roamers, will need ongoing assessment of learning needs, continuous training New supervisor (again) Qualitative evaluation- student feedback neededCreate Peer Roamer LibGuide Have some fun!

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33Thanks U of C Students UnionLCR and SSCBrenda McDermott ( SSC) and Robin Lee ( LCR)All the roamers: Grant, Rachel, Sanpreet, Rahul, Emma, Braelyn, Chaitanya, Hadia, Manessa, Laura, Hooi Yee, Jenny34sdbeatty@ucalgary.ca

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